Test The Ashes Fifth Test January 4-8 1000hrs @ The SCG

[Stottzy]

Stokes has been living on past glory’s for a while.
I still think McCullum runs everything and Stokes is just a puppet captain.

"You know anytime Ben Stokes is at the crease, something special happens".... Reckon I heard this said from a commentator at every test.

Dead right about McCullum. Reminds me of one of those motivational, self-help frauds.

 

[sr36]

Hazelwood no better than Boland didn’t bother reading anything after that dribble.

Scotty B was fantastic today.

 

[MarcMaverick]

Hoffs problem was durability.

 

[LukeParkerno1]

Great test pitch

Day 1: bit in it early, flattening out mid second session
Days 2&3: Best to bat attrition bowing needed and top of off is the area
Day 4: Bit of uneven and it starts to turn
Day 5: TBA but will turn more and a bit more uneven

Well done to the curator

 

[Bedi]

It’s pissed me off that Bethel is such a likeable lad. Loved his post match interview on Fox. How am I supposed to post irrational shit about him now FFS

Know what you mean. Remember when i first saw him in a one dayer in Eng vs Aust and was thinking who the hell is this tool!

Must be the laidback Barbados vibes. You know he's from there right? Think someone mentioned that once today.

 

[Kappa]

So now that Ben Stokes series is over (won't bowl tomorrow), what's the assessment of him?

Bowling- Solid. 15 wickets with an average of 25, is a great return and he usually could find something when others struggled.

Batting- Flopped. 184 runs at an average of 18 and strike rate of just 36.58! Boycott nearly had a better strike rate!

Captaincy- Disastrous. Strange choices for opening bowlers, clueless when plans weren't working, not selecting Tongue earlier, looked completely cooked on-field and too many tantrums for my liking.

He's had his moments and been a aggressive captain in the past, but honestly he captained worse than Freddy Flintoff 06/07 this series. Would not be surprised if this is his last series as leader.

I've been listening to the Fox commentators and I reckon Stokes has had one of the most remarkable, heroic, heart-felt legendary performance in test history.

 

[Young Redleg]

It’s pissed me off that Bethel is such a likeable lad. Loved his post match interview on Fox. How am I supposed to post irrational shit about him now FFS

He and Root are the only ones I have a little bit of time for

 

[worbod]

Steve Smith has taken 14 catches for the series. The record for any series is 15 by Jack Gregory against England in 1920-21. Currently there are 8 Pommy wickets down. I admire Smith's catching ability but I would like to see Jack Gregory keep the record outright. Surely the Poms can find two other ways to get out tomorrow.

 

[Portmagpies36]

Scotty B was fantastic today.

He was, but he is not being picked ahead of Hazelwood.

 

[sr36]

He was, but he is not being picked ahead of Hazelwood.

No. But in the context of the conversation, how Boland bowled today is what mattered. It was well above the average for a test match bowler. Facing Boland rather than Hazlewood today doesn't diminish an innings remotely.

 

[cats_09]

Steve Smith has taken 14 catches for the series. The record for any series is 15 by Jack Gregory against England in 1920-21. Currently there are 8 Pommy wickets down. I admire Smith's catching ability but I would like to see Jack Gregory keep the record outright. Surely the Poms can find two other ways to get out tomorrow.

He should have been on 15 after today

 

[Mr Meow]

I know it's probably different posters, but these threads have become ridiculous. Batsman gets a hundred - the pitch is a road and bowlers are grade level. Batsman doesn't get a hundred - shit modern impatient batsmen.

This subforum is a truly miserable corner of the universe. From pitches, players, eras and all the rest - whatever happens, it means something or someone was awful and must be complained about intensively.

 

[Sea fog]

CA got what they wanted a five day test they didnt want to lose more millions

After all the whingeing about the Melbourne pitch being too bowler friendly, especially from precisou batsmen, it was always going to be a flat track suited to batsmen who are prepared to concentrate and not make daft decisions. Any pitch which produced innings scores of nearly 400, comfortably over 500, 300 and counting with four tons being made despite so many batsmen induced dismissals is manifestly batsmen-friendly.

 

[western royboy]

Remember how quick everyone on here was to panic about the state of test cricket and questioning modern day player's inability to play the long game? Well 8/552 has just put that theory to bed.

We have had two, two day test matches - everything is relative. One swallow…

 

[Sea fog]

Steve Smith has taken 14 catches for the series. The record for any series is 15 by Jack Gregory against England in 1920-21. Currently there are 8 Pommy wickets down. I admire Smith's catching ability but I would like to see Jack Gregory keep the record outright. Surely the Poms can find two other ways to get out tomorrow.

Gregory was apparently a phenomenal catcher with giant-sized hands. The funny thing about Smith is he takes lots of catches and some absolute pearlers but I have seen him fluff a few important ones too so there would be some Aussie slippers ahead of him.

 

[western royboy]

Stokes has been living on past glory’s for a while.
I still think McCullum runs everything and Stokes is just a puppet captain.

He wound appear to have gone backwards tactically, the bigger grounds seem to have ****ed with his field settings and he just hasn’t adjusted

 

[Sea fog]

We have had two, two day test matches - everything is relative. One swallow…

The evidence from this series is that bowler friendly surfaces will make for short, certainly shorter matches, while roady type decks mainly go the distance. And there are lots of reasons for this which have been articulated by plenty of scribes and ex-players.

 

[peternorth]

Is anyone else sad that tomorrow is the last day of the summer of cricket?

 

[MarcMaverick]

He was, but he is not being picked ahead of Hazelwood.

If only Hoffs body wasn't made of glass.

 

[MarcMaverick]

Is anyone else sad that tomorrow is the last day of the summer of cricket?

Yes.

 

[Sonny Hayes]

Is anyone else sad that tomorrow is the last day of the summer of cricket?

I’m not ready at all, having to reintroduce myself to my partner after a couple of months will be tough

 

[MarcMaverick]

I’m not ready at all, having to reintroduce myself to my partner after a couple of months will be tough

"Hello, My name is Sonny Hayes"

 

[Peter Bixley]

He and Root are the only ones I have a little bit of time for

I'm neutral on most of them, but I can't stand Stokes, Crawley, Duckett and Brook.

 

[Sonny Hayes]

"Hello, My name is Sonny Hayes"

 

[Portmagpies36]

No. But in the context of the conversation, how Boland bowled today is what mattered. It was well above the average for a test match bowler. Facing Boland rather than Hazlewood today doesn't diminish an innings remotely.

No but my point was there was no Cummins Hazelwood or Lyon all world class bowlers.